MEN have more sex than women after retirement age, research suggests.
Scientists believe it may be because there are fewer blokes living that long so they are outnumbered — or they are fibbing.
Credit: Wavebreak Media ltd / Alamy Stock PhotoWomen live longer so they may get a more limited choice of partners in old age, experts say (stock image)[/caption]
A study of 5,000 Brits’ sex lives in 2022 found fellas over the age of 60 have more sexual partners than women of the same age.
The sexes were closely matched in their 50s, with an average of around 0.5 partners over three weeks – meaning half of them bonked during the study.
But the level fell to 0.33 for women aged 60 to 64 and to 0.23 after age 70 — meaning three-quarters of the females polled did not make love.
However, the figure for men remained steady at around 0.5 partners through their 50, 60s and 70s — even rising to 0.52 at 75-plus.
Professor Julii Brainard, from the University of East Anglia, said: “Men die sooner so there is a shortage of men in older age groups.
“So the older men have more opportunities to find a partner than the older women.”
The study, in the journal Plos One, quizzed 5,164 people in the UK to find out more about how sexually transmitted diseases spread.
It showed straight men and women bed the most partners in their 20s.
Office for National Statistics data shows men have a shorter life expectancy than women in Britain.
Those who were 65 in 2020 will live to 84, on average, while women of the same age will likely make it to 87.
In old age this leaves women with a smaller dating pool and men with a bigger one, Prof Brainard says.
She added: “There is also some evidence that men are more likely to fib about their number of partners.
“And perhaps the difference has something to do with male psychology, that men need to keep that physical connection up and are more willing to work at it.”
Polls suggest the average Brit has sex once a week.
Getting busy in the bedroom has been proven to have health benefits, including cutting heart disease risk, burning calories and reducing stress.